"Of all the wild shots of literary history, it's hard to beat Martin Amis. Seriously, it is hard to beat Martin Amis . . . at Defender. "If you ever see a Defender which bears the initials MLA in the All-Time Greatest column of its Hall of Fame—well, that's me, pal. I earned it," Amis boasts in his utterly unlikely 1982 book Invasion of the Space Invaders: An Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machines. "

also reviewed is Len Deighton's Action Cook Book (1965) , Dava Sobel on back exercises, and Annie Proulx on distilling cider.